HTC

Getting rid of spyware and other malware in apps is something that Apple has always been pretty on top of, and them getting rid of a recent app that steals your passcodes is really no surprise overall. The app that was called the “Big Brother Camera Security” app that was used to steal the passcodes of users. The app was created by the developer Daniel Amity.

The app attempts to trick users into setting a new passcode that is identical to the pin that they use to lock their unlocked iPhone 4 It was not clear exactly what he was going to be using that passcode for, but you can bet that it was going to be for something malicious. The developers intentions did not seem to be malicious from the get go, but apple was not going to allow that kind of app will be allowed in their marketplace. Apple is not willing to take the risk that the app would be used for the right purposes throughout its life.

The app was banned from the app store, without them even giving them the chance to remake the app to get rid of the issues that got the app banned in the first place. The private PIN’s were not going to be able to be directly tied to the users that had installed the app, but who knows what they could have used them for in due time.

This comes on the heels of the apps for android phones such as Motorola Atrix unlocked, HTC Desire, etc.. tore having many different problems with apps in their store being used for malware or malicious intent in recent days. With all of the attention that has been placed on that in recent days it was clear that Apple was not willing to take any risks with the Big Brother app.

Google has been hard at work to get rid of the apps that have made it into their marketplace that contain malware for the Android operating system such as unlocked Samsung Galaxy II, Xperia Play from Sony Ericsson. This is the third time a batch of Android malware has been discovered and has essentially been labeled “Plankton.” Apparently the app had the ability to access a server for instructions on what the app should do next.

This is a pretty stealthy was for these developers to get their malware into the Android marketplace. With all of the questions that have arisen in recent weeks as a result of all of the malware that has been found in the Android marketplace it is apparent that Google is doing everything in their power to root out the issues.

Unlike previous apps, Plankton did not use holes in the security of the phone to attack the user, but instead called to instructions that were stored on another server to do its dirty work. They also chose to promote the app as an add on to Angry Birds, which is easily one of the most popular games in the history of mobile. It will certainly be interesting to see how these apps are packaged in the future to get an idea of what to avoid. The hackers also packaged the apps as Cheat Apps for Angry Birds, which helped the apps to spread much more quickly. Previous apps utilized trojan horses that infiltrate the phone such as LG Eve GW 620 unlocked, HTC Desire, etc.. and send text messages to numbers, driving up the cost for the user. Google continues to fight the malware attacks but it is clear that people are looking to exploit vulnerabilities in the operating system. It will be interesting to see how Google responds to these threats moving forward and whether or not they will be able to put an end to the uploading of illegal materials.

All Sprint users are going to be happy to hear that the company will be giving them a bump in their speeds for their network. The upload speeds specifically are going to be bumped for users of the WiMax network by up to 50%, which should allow for cell phone users such as Motorola Atrix unlocked, HTC Incredible S, etc..to transfer more data in a timely fashion. However, as you might have been able to guess, there is a catch that you have to deal with if you are looking to upgrade the speeds.

The upload speeds, as of right now, have been capped at a mere 1 Megabyte per second. This means that even with the new speeds in place, you will only be able to upload at just 1.5 megabits per second. This is not all that great because Verizon is currently offering users as much as 5 to 7 megabytes per second through their 4G LTE Network, which is by far some of the fastest that the mobile industry has to offer. Although the improvement is a free one and is going to bring users something that they have never had before, you can not help but wish that they would allow for the bump to go just a little bit higher.

Sprint’s network has always been touted as one of the best but is still a few steps behind what has been offered by Verizon and other companies in recent years. Customers will notice that their speeds will increase by as much as 50% over the course of ht next few weeks, but in all the upload speed change should be hardly noticeable unless you are uploading audio and video files, and even then you will only be able to notice a bit of a difference.

It is good to see that they are making changes to keep up with the rest of the industry but you would hope that they would be able to provide users with a little more than they have with this upgrade. Their WiMax has been highly touted, but it is clear that they have a ways to go before keeping up with the leaders in the space.

PureMobile carries wide range of cell phone and cell phone accessories such as cases and skins.

ComScore has announced something that most people that follow the mobile industry will already be aware of - the fact that Android has continued to grow at a quick rate and has been able to surpass some of their competition over the course of the last few months. In January of 2011, the Android operating system had just over 31% of the total subscriber base. Now, it has been announced that they have 36.4% of the total number of subscribers, leading to a 5.2 percent increase over that period of time. They are rapidly capturing market share with excellent device releases and updates that have attracted a lot of new users.

Over that same period of time, Apple’s unlocked iphone 4 has also gained some of the smart phone subscriber base, moving forward 1.3 percent from January to April to a total of 26.0%. By that same token, the biggest loser over this period of time was undoubtedly Research in Motion. They saw their overall share of the Smartphone subscriber base fall an astounding 3.7 percent between January and April, falling to 25.7 percent and officially falling below apple for the first time in the history of the industry in this score.

Microsoft has actually seen the percentage of smart phone subscribers dip over this period as well, but many of these users are users of the previous Windows operating system for smart devices such as HTC HD 7, Dell Streak unlocked etc..which is being phased out so they are expected to lower over the course of the next few months while the user base of their main focus, Windows Phone 7 continues to grow. In all, good news for Apple and Google, and depressing news for Research In Motion and other companies that have seen their numbers fall in the first half of 2011.

As of right now, Google’s location based news services do not have the best reputation because of the bugs that they have had recently, but Google seems to be eager to put them out there to the public regardless. Now, they have released a new service titled “News Near you.” The entire purpose of “News Near you” is for you to receive local news automatically when you log in to the service from your android cell phone such as unlocked Motorola Atrix, HTC Inspire, etc.. It will then provide you with the news from your local area that might be relevant to you based on your search history and other factors that dictate which local news that are going to display for you.

You point your Android and Safari browser to the news page. Then, you agree to use your current location to get news for the area around you. There will be a number of local stories that are placed in a category on the left site of the page. This allows you to get the local news without having to actually alter the regular news feed. A quick test of the service shows that there is quite a bit of news out there for all of the different local areas so it might be something that is worth checking out to find great local stories that might not be mainstream news with your local news sources.

Look for Google to continue to release more location based services if this most recent release is any indication of where the company is heading next. They have put together a really great service that allows for you to get an aggregation of the local news in your area based on where you are when you log into the site using your cell phone . While this service is still in the early stages, its shows a lot of potential in terms of how much local news it is able to deliver.

A number of new updates have been added to the Nook app from Barnes and Noble that allows users to purchase a wide range of new items. Includes in the new items is access to a number of newspapers and magazines. Users that have tablets that are at least seven inches and have a resolution of 800 x 400 and are utilizing the Android Os 2.1 or higher. There are a number of tablets that this will include, including the Samsung Galaxy Tab and newer iterations of the device, the XOOM and the G-Slate.

As of right now there are more than 120 magazines in total. A number of other magazines are expected to be included at some point in the near future. Included in the update are huge names such as Esquire, Rolling Stone, USA Today, The Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune.

Users will be able to access the content that these magazines provide with a free 14 day trial. After that, they will be expected to take out a subscription. The option is also there for them to take purchase each of the items individually as well, which should allow for users to get a better idea of what magazines they like, and which magazines are worth it for them to subscribe to.

Although there are only 120 magazines taking part right now, you can bet that this is an area of their business that Barnes and Noble are looking to expand. The app has been a huge success thus far, and these updates will only make it more popular. The app update is already available through the Android users such as Motorola Atrix Unlocked, HTC Desire, etc. that have purchased the app.

It will be interesting to see what kind of response that the app receives following this update. Previously only books were available through the Nook Shop app, but Barnes and Noble has shown that they are interested in moving to other types of media as well.

Twitter has launched their new web app that features a redesigned menu that makes it easier for users to go between their Twitter feed and individual Twitter accounts. The mobile version of their website has already started rolling out. Not all users will see the new version of the site, but you can bet that people will start to see it across the board here soon. Twitter is known for rolling out huge changes very slowly to look for issues before throwing it in front of every user.

The new design definitely shows an improvement over the previous design. The mobile site design of the web app previous to this was quite cartoony and definitely did not match the changes that Twitter has made on their main website.

The native apps are still going to be better for the most part than using their mobile site, but this new design is going to be far less clunky and will be easier to navigate for a large bulk of their users. Web apps currently do not have the same access to the API catologue that apps and other platforms currently have access to. Twitter has stated that most users will see the roll out of the new site over the course of the next few weeks, with larger roll outs coming with each passing day. So far, it is being rolled out to users with Android devices, as well as a select number of users with unlocked iPhone 4, iPod Touch’s and various other devices in the coming days.

So far the new web app has been received with critical acclaim from users and media sources alike. It is a greatly improved design that is not going to cause the issues that users have complained about for a very long time. It is good to see that twitter has finally addressed this issue.

Have you ever wished that you could send an mp3 to someone that you were talking to without having to hook up your devices to one another? The AirPlay to AppleTV support was a similar feature that was recently added to the Android media player. Now, you will be able to send your mp3 from one phone to another without having to connect them, straight through NFC technology. The video that was released also offers a few details that will give you a better idea of how the technology will work. The update first went live in the Android Market throughout the night. You will be able to send the mp3 to someone that is on a unlocked Samsung Nexus S Google, Galaxy S II and hopefully soon other devices.

In order to use the software you will have to have two different Android phones that also have the NFC technology. The file sharing features work over the WiFi or Bluetooth connection strings, and will continually be updated by DoubleTwist.

This is exciting because it is the first of many ways that we will see this technology to be used in the future. The ability to wirelessly send files from one device to another will be hugely popular in the near future. As of right now, only a few devices actually have the NFC technology to make it possible, but you can bet that as more devices are added to lineups with this technology that there will be more and more uses for wirelessly sending files back and fourth.

Several companies have announced new phones that have NFC technology to be released in the near future, so it appears that the trend will continue to grow moving forward as well. Sharing music is just the very beginning, but you can bet that all sorts of files will be shared moving forward into the future.

US Cellular has plans to launch a brand new 4G LTE network for unlocked cell phone users by the time the holiday season rolls around this year and will likely offer a number of new devices for their brand new network just in time for Christmas. With other companies moving quickly to roll out more powerful solutions, it appears that US Cellular does not to loose ground and will be rolling out more highly powered networks of their own to draw in more users.

Their plans were outlined and announced today. The first regions that receive the new network will be around sometime during the holiday season, with other plans stating that they would like to extend their new network across the nation. At first, only a few select cities will be receiving the upgrade. These cities could include Milwaukee, Madison and Des Moines, according to the announcement that was made today. Their initial roll out is said to cover around 25% of the US, with future updates to the network expanding their reach.

In order to use the new LTE network, you will of course need to own a device that is compatible with the LTE network. As of right now, the company is not currently offering compatible phones, but you can bet that they will find a way to release some before the network is even close to being launched, although there have been no announcements about that thus far.

US Cellular is aggressively expanding their capabilities after the competition has also done so in recent months. Look for them to quickly roll out new areas after their initial run is tested and they have a better idea of what to expect. The roll out is expected in mid to late fourth quarter of 2011.

The BlackBerry PlayBook is a device that has received a lot of attention in recent months, but is not expected to sell as well as some of the other tablet device that have been available for quite some time. Research In Motion has announced that the new Facebook application for their seven inch tablet that will be available sometime in May. The device will be a business based tablet that should function similarly to most unlocked BlackBerry cell phones.

This will allow for their thirty million users to finally receive the Facebook application that they have been hoping for, and will open up the ability for them to stay in touch with friends while they are on the move. This is something that many users have been waiting to hear, and will probably help them to sell their new tablet device.

Although BlackBerry started out targeting corporations and corporate applications of their devices, they have been moving closer toward personal uses in recent years, and the PlayBook might be their farthest jump in the opposite direction.

The BlackBerry Playbook is a device that has received a lot of attention in recent months, as it is the first jump into the tablet arena by Research In Motion, and the device has mostly impressed thus far. There is no reason to think that the device would not continue to impress moving forward, especially with all of the attention that has been placed on it.

The announcement came via a press release that quickly made rounds throughout the various mobile blogs and websites. The application will allow users to view and add friends as well as new video and photo viewing, and the ability to use the Facebook chat application that comes standard with every Facebook account. This is an update that many have been waiting for for quite some time.